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Rick Santorum Values Voter Summit speech transcript (full text)

Our basic value structure and principles applied here in this country, and copied in other places around the world, less perfectly than here, but still copied, took life expectancy from 40, 35, to 80; took us to an industrial revolution, a technology revolution.

I don’t even know what kind of revolution we’re in right now. We seem to be creating dynamism in the marketplace like it’s never been seen. Why? Freedom. Freedom, not government dictates, not planners who are going to invest in solar energy companies and tell us what our future is going to be by some bureaucrat making those decisions. No. No, we’re going to trust you.

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That’s why the media doesn’t go along with us. You have to understand that. They don’t like conservatism. They like the other side, not necessarily, I would argue, because they necessarily agree with them. It’s because they can influence the country more. You see, if just a few people make decisions about what this world looks like and what this country looks like, well, then you can have people sitting in offices in the major media outlets and in Hollywood who can – they can deal with a small group of people and influencing them, getting them to jump through the hoops they want to. It’s much harder if all of you collectively build America. It’s much harder to influence you.

We will never have the media on our side, ever, in this country. We will never have the elite smart people on our side, because they believe they should have the power to tell you what to do. So our colleges and universities, they’re not going to be on our side. The conservative movement will always be – and that’s why we founded Patriot Voices – the basic premise of America and American values will always be sustained through two institutions, the church and the family. (Applause.)

And so economic conservatism - libertarian types can say, oh, well, we don’t want to talk about the social issues. Without the church and the family, there is no conservative movement. There is no basic values in America in force, and there is no future for our country. (Applause.)

So it is our job in this election, it is our job, to go out and make a difference. It is our job to go out and talk to fellow believers. And I don’t mean Christians. I mean fellow believers in the American creed, fellow believers in those basic principles that built our country.

Go out and preach to them the American ethic. Preach to them what made us great. And remind them that that greatness does not lie in Washington, D.C. or in the hands of a president. It lies in each and every one of us and in our families.

I’m excited, because I think we have a nominee who understands that. I read – I didn’t see it, but I read the transcript of what Governor Romney said here. I could have given that speech. I feel good. I feel good. (Laughter, applause.) We have to do our part.

So I encourage each and every one of you to leave here energized. It is our watch. At the end of the Declaration of Independence, we all know those words. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are – excuse me. We know these words, that we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortune and our sacred honor.

I have a video coming out we’re launching on Monday called “Our Sacred Honor” that talks about our founding principles, that talks about who we are as a country, our Declaration, our Constitution – an educational tool, and hopefully an inspiration for others. We need to mutually pledge to each other. Look at the person on either side of you. Pledge to them that over the next month and a half, in our watch in America, that we will do what God has called us to do. (Applause.)

This is the most important election you will ever be involved in. I know a lot of people are anxious. A lot of people are concerned about the future of this country. I feel blessed. I feel blessed to be here at a time when our country needs us. And so please go out. Do everything you can for Governor Romney, for Paul Ryan, for your senators, for your congressmen, and you will win a great victory for freedom and for our great country.